Good morning my name is Chip Kirwan and this is my wife Dana. We have been married for almost 17 years. We have been members of St Patrick’s for over 8 years.  We have 2 children, who attend school here

Ring Ring – it’s Father Tom calling….

My original idea on Stewardship came from my parents oh so many years ago….
Several years ago we started looking for a parish – we checked out several in the area and decided that St Patrick’s was the parish for us.  Back then - We went to the new parishioner orientation, signed the information form.  I indicated that I would be interested in the Men’s club and a few other activities.  We committed to giving a few $$’s.  So we were on our way.

If you had told me 8 years ago that I would be standing here talking about Stewardship – I would have said you were crazy.  When we first starting attending St Patrick’s – we decided to come here because we heard the parish had a good school and our kids would soon be of school age.  I was not even Catholic but we started attending. But after a few years I knew that I needed to take the next step to join the Catholic Faith – I was not really excited about the process – the RCIA meets every Monday night for 2 hours for 9 months!! Why did it have to be so complicated?  But I decided to give it a try – do my time and move on. I have to say that God does work in mysterious ways. He let me know there was more to it than just that.  Well that was 7 years ago and I am coming to the RCIA meetings every Monday night.  I am now a part of the RCIA team – helping others to learn about our faith. 

 
Our concept of stewardship has changed over the years similar to my experience with the RCIA program.  We thought we would attend Mass weekly – throw a few $$ into the basket and be on our way. Well we were wrong – we discovered that stewardship is not just about $ or treasure – it is a way of life.  I cannot imagine our lives without stewardship.  We jumped in with both feet and are still moving.  At this time in our lives we are involved in the school both attend school here – our son is a cub scout and plays soccer – our daughter is in the band. I help with the RCIA and the children’s religions programs plus I am a Eucharist minister.  Chip is on the Parish council, the men’s club treasurer, a lector and an usher.  We have also help at fish fries, chili suppers, the school fall festival, give blood, help clean up the grounds, make donations of food, clothes, gifts to the various programs  Are we busy? – yes we both work full-time but we still find the time to get involved and  to help whenever we can.  That is what stewardship is about  - making it a part of your lives - A way of life. 

 
We consider St Patrick’s to be our family and our home.  When something good happens in our lives who are some of the first people call? – our St Patrick’s friends – When something bad happens – who do we call – our St Patrick’s friends.  This is our family

We are so very fortunate to live where we do and to have the opportunities that we have – there are so many people in the world who do not have _ of what we have. And it is all because of God – Everything we have is a gift from God.  He is the reason we are all here today.  Without God we would have nothing. What better way to express our gratitude & thanks than to help our family & others around us.  Being a good steward is such an easy way to express our appreciation and thanks to God, out Father.

So when did we go from being a family that just did what it needed to getting our kids in school, to a family that embraces the stewardship way of life? I am not really sure that I can give you definite day or even an event that caused this change in our lives. It was more of a journey from acting like we got it, to really believing and trusting in the stewardship way of life.

When we joined St. Pat’s the Men’s Club was the first parish organization I became involved with. This was because the President at that time called and personally invited me to come to a meeting. This personal connection got me started. So today I am inviting the parish to take the time to refresh your commitment to St. Pat’s and to our stewardship program. In the upcoming weeks you will be receiving the information on this year’s stewardship renewal. As you make your commitments, take a chance and signup for something new and try it for a year. We truly believe that you will get back so much more than you put into it. As we prepare our commitment to stewardship for the upcoming year remember this time it is God calling and not Father Tom so what will your answer be?